Fall TV: Second looks, Part 1

I usually like to watch at least two episodes of a new show before really passing judgement on it. Pilots need to do a lot in terms of introducing the world and the characters and the tone of the show and isn't always a good indicator of what the show is going to be week in and week out. So here's how I feel about this fall's crop of new shows now that we're a few weeks in.

2 Broke Girls - Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs have really great chemistry and I think watching the relationship between Max and Caroline develop will be really fun. The problem is that the rest of the show is kind of awful. The supporting characters are all caricatures, almost bordering on offensive, and the jokes are...bad. They're mean, or dated, or just stupid. I like that there's a bit of a trajectory for the show with the cupcake business but even that concept feels a bit tired.
Status: On notice.

New Girl - Despite a cast member change (Coach is out, Winston is in), the show we saw in the second and third episodes was pretty consistent with what we saw in the pilot. Whether you like this show is still basically dependent on whether you like Jess (and Zooey Deschanel) or not. If you do, there's really a lot to like here. Jess is definitely wacky but there are enough moments where she pulls it back and is more normal. I'm liking Nick a lot (I was a fan of the actor from that odd movie Paper Heart) and I think they're figuring out Schmidt more and more.
Status: Definite keeper.

Suburgatory - One of the most pleasant surprises of the season. Silly but smart and Jane Levy and Jeremy Sisto are really great. A bonus: Alan Tudyk (of Firefly and Serenity) is hilarious as the ridiculously tanned and chipper Noah.
Status: Definite keeper.

The Secret Circle - I called the pilot "slick" and the show has definitely kept that up. I like the characters and the episodes have great pacing and effects and all that but the mythology is already tripping me up. I guess the characters are still figuring things out on their own as well but I'm so confused about what the parents know and what their intentions are and when things happened to them. Oh, and Cassie's mom graduated high school in 1995?? So basically all the teens were born when their parents were 18? I hope that the writers have this stuff figured out. Oh, and I really don't care about Melissa/Nick, and the whole Cassie-Adam-Diana love triangle is just kinda dreadful.
Status: Keeper, for now.

Fall TV: Suburgatory

My first thought on hearing about this show: awful title. My second thought: Jeremy Sisto is old enough to be playing the father of a 16-year-old?? Man, I am getting old.

Anyway, my third thought: the premise didn't necessarily make sense to me...a single father finds condoms in his teenage daughter's room and decides that they need to move out of New York City to the suburbs? Like kids in the suburbs don't have sex? And the suburb they move to isn't like any suburb I've lived in...it's kinda Real Housewives of New Jersey where people are really tan and wear ridiculous clothes.

But all that aside, this was actually pretty funny. Jane Levy and Jeremy Sisto have good chemistry and comic timing as Tessa and her dad George, and the supporting cast (including Cheryl Hines) are almost caricatures but not quite. Unexpected, but there's definitely potential here.

Thursday Top Threes: Food!

J: Stole this topic from my favorite podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour -- what are your top three favorite movies about food or featuring food? 

Mira: Stopping by cuz I can. And I LOVE this question!
1. No Reservations: Loved this, and made me wanna eat everything they were making.
2. Simply Irresistable: A silly movie, but so likable.
3. Chicken Run: It's probably extremely horrible that I put this on the list... but... I remember still watching this in the movie theater and the movie making me really crave chicken pot pie. Why is this so terrible, you ask? Well, it's a movie about chickens trying to run away from people who had created this machine where you stuck the chicken in and out popped a chicken pot pie.
Honorable mention: Waitress for the pies, if only I liked pie more.
Need to watch: Ratatouille, Julie & Julia, Chocolat, Tortilla Soup.
I think I know at least one, if not two, of Burkie's answers. :)

 Jennifer: My answers are pretty standard...
1. Big Night: I can still picture that crazy timpano. Love Stanley Tucci!
2. Eat Drink Man Woman: Mmmm Chinese food.
3. Julie & Julia: The Julie parts of the movie kind of grated but all the scenes with Meryl Streep as Julia Child eating were hilarious and made me really really hungry. And Stanley Tucci again!
Honorable mention: The movie isn't about food, but I love the scenes in Sabrina at the culinary school in Paris =)